By Dayak Daily Team,Editor DL

Copyright dayakdaily

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Sept 26: IMSEA Education (M) Sdn Bhd and Hangzhou Pute Education Group announced a RMB100 million investment into their partnership in Sarawak to supercharge cross-border e-commerce and artificial intelligence (AI) education in Sarawak.

According to a press release issued by IMSEA Education, this would turn their base in Sarawak into the first Alibaba Digital Commerce Industry College outside of China.

“This is a model of centre of excellence for e-commerce localisation and applied AI which the partnership aims to scale in Southeast Asia,” it said.

The announcement was made during the BRICS Special Economic Zones Dialogue, held in conjunction with the 4th Global Digital Trade Expo at the Hangzhou International Expo Centre on Thursday (Sept 25).

The Global Digital Trade Expo is China’s premier international platform for promoting innovation in digital commerce, AI-powered technologies, and cross-border industrial collaboration.

The RMB100 investment is primarily for the development of localised educational programmes, hiring and training of trainers, and establishment of physical and online facilities in Kuching.

Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian, who witnessed the signing of the partnership, described it as a ‘policy win’ for Sarawak.

“The Post-COVID Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, with a focus on the digital industry through the Sarawak Digital Economy Blueprint 2030, stimulates private sector growth and unlocks new capital flows as we witness today.

“Our policy of equitable education, recognition of the Unified Exam Certificate (UEC), and upcoming free tertiary education scheme has nurtured a talent pool capable of flourishing in the future global economy.

“We are hopeful that the Alibaba Digital Commerce Industry College built through this partnership will turbocharge the Sarawak digital economy,” he said.

The partnership comprises three strategic thrusts for the first Alibaba Digital Commerce Industry College outside of China:

Quickly scale up experiential learning through industry internships, hands-on training, and cross-cultural exposure.
To form international academic exchanges and cooperation in education and research between Southeast Asian and Chinese Universities, particularly those in Sarawak and Zhejiang, at the start.
Accelerate the use of AI through education and commerce for education and economic equity.

Hangzhou Pute Education Group’s chief executive officer (CEO), Feng DiYang, commented that Southeast Asia is expected to lead global e-commerce growth over the next decade.

“We chose to invest in and with Sarawak primarily because of its talent pools and supportive policies. The cultural and language proximity to China and the Southeast Asia region provides an ideal springboard for Chinese entrepreneurs into the region, and vice versa,” he said.

He added that due to Southeast Asia’s diversity, IMSEA and Pute will work with identified partners in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, to gain fluency in the culture, consumer behaviour, policy, and regulation.

Meanwhile, Prof Wallace Wong, chairperson of IMSEA Education (M) Sdn Bhd and a professor at the Design and Technology Centre at the University of Technology Sarawak (UTS), said that IMSEA have recently agreed with the university to carry out joint education and research initiatives with universities in Zhejiang province. At the same time, UTS has just hosted a group of computing students from the Communication University of Zhejiang.

“The IMSEA-Pute groundwork with UTS is critical for the success of the Alibaba Digital Commerce Industry College. We are thankful to the university leadership for allowing us to build a scalable model which we aim to replicate throughout our Southeast Asia network”.

Hangzhou Pute Education Group is a leading partner of Alibaba’s International Core Business Unit, which specialises in digital marketing and cross-border e-commerce education.

IMSEA Education (M) Sdn Bhd, based in Sarawak, is a provider of professional training and experiential learning programmes. — DayakDaily